Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-24

80
the bottom o. them pants, which hung
aroun' Sims ankles when he "ame in.
wuz more n half way to his knees. n a
reachin' fer 'em steady, a gittin nearer n
nearer every minute, n shown off his
shins n calves to mighty good advantage,
I tell ye. Sim he jest TUX one look down
to'ards tn floor, n seemed to lose all
sense to onct. He jest riz up, n two
steps TUX him to tn door, n that's tn
last we saw NV him till after tn weddin'.
.Gan'pai"
sWell, Polly
'.Is duckskin Injun RUBBER"
..Buckskin, child, buckskin. No, faint
Injun rubber"
''Then why'd il draw up so in Sims
clothes"
.'Oh, why, We see, buckskin s deer.
hide, tanned, bout like tn shammy skin
yer mother hez to rub tn winders with.
When it gets wet it stretches like a sin.
ner's conscience, but it'll go back about
like it wuz afore when it gifts dry. Sim
didn't know this. Comm cross tn
swamp he'd fell in n got wet, n pres
entity tn buckskin in his brooches
stretched out over his heels, n he jest
out it'll his knife an cut it of. Purity
soon it heightened out some more. n he
whacked it off agin, so by tn time he got
t our house he'd chopped off right smart,
n when he set down fore tn fire n got
dried out, n tn buckskin gun togo back
where it b'longed, it nachurly left a long
bare spot of skin. N that wuz what
wuz tn matter it'll Janey when she saw
tn pranks his breeches wuz aplayin' him,
n him not KNOWN it. But t didn't
make much difference to her, fer she
married Dick next quart'rly meetin' day,
n they went to housekeepin' s / told We.
Didn't take long to build a house. then,
neither. All tn neighbors too help'd run
up a cabin n two days. Didn't have
many tools, neither; jest axes, a saw n
auger, n a froe. The houses wuzn't
purity t. look at, but mighty comf't'ble,
n a heap sight better n n Injun wig
wam."
"Dick n Janey lived near us much's
four or five years. n then Dick thought
things wuz a gittin' too crowded like, n
he ups anu moves off to Indiana. Mother
wuz awful sorry to see Janey 60 20 fur
away. n tried to scare Dick out by tell
ing about tn lnjuns not much further
West n they wuz going; but 'twasn't a
mite o. use; they went. They did see
lnjuns, too, but never got killed. Fact
is, tn Injuns got scared most to death
right in Dicks cabin one night, n from
all what l could hear it had a right smart
heap O. influence on the keepin' o. peace
t one time. Dick he'd managed t. git
out from tn rest Nv tn settlement: he'd
gone TO n a little furder west, / s'pose
cause he wuz 30 fond o. huntin', n
thought e. the game wuz bein' drove
west, he wanted & git next to it. He
built him a cabin like all tn rest o. tn
folks in them days. 1t had ~punchson
foors'n a shake roof-that means made
out o. clapboards n put on Tia ~rafters,
n then poles put cross t. weight 'em
down. Well, first fail they moved out
there they wuz some talk o. Injun troubles,
n finally bout a dozen o. tn best hunt
ers they got t'kether n thought they'd
scout round toward tn Iniun towns
north O. them an Bee T they'd find any
Injun sign. They wuz gone bout q
week, n got back s fur g Dicks house
m %evenin', when it began rainin'-jest
drizzly like. 1t uz least ten miles to tn
settlement n the boys w all tired, n
they thought it nd be best to stop till
mornin' at Dicks house. When tn
troubles begun he'd moved all his family
back to tn settlement, n KEEP EN- there
fur fear o. trouble. But he'd left some
things about the house. n when the scouts
struck it they thought the'd hev a
nice time; all the more so because they
hadn't seen no Injuns nor no signs NV
emmy. All but one-Joe Speaker, a big
fat Dutchman, who wuz tn hest woods
man n Injun fighter n tn whole lot, n
liked a pipe better'n he did a bible. Jake
he'd seen signs o. Injuns in tn woods that
afternoon, an then he'd had a dream o.
seeing his wife, n that he said WIZ a sure
sign he'd see Injuns first. So he told the
boys 'twouldn't do to build a fire in tn
cabin, IS they meant TO, n cook some
bacon they'd found upstairs, cause tn
Injuns d be sure to see tn light n smell
tn bacon, n then tn boys'd git into a
sight O. trouble. tn boys didn't like to
give up q warm supper, but Jake jest
made EN- do it, n they ct supper o.
dried venison n parched corn, which wuz
all they'd took along to live on. Then he
made EN- 60 TO bed in tn loft, n he wus
tn last man to climb up tn ladder n wus
mighty careful { wipe out emmy sign st
might been made in tn cabin down stairs.
They wuz a lot o. corn piled up in tn loft
to dry, jest pulled off in tn husks n scat
tered over tn floor. Jake made tn boys
all lay down n a row under tn caves
over the door, n he laid down last. tn
boys wuz tired, n purity Don all wuz
asleep, all but Jake. He didn't like tn
looks o. things much, n he laid awake
steddyn' EN- over. After awhile he heard
a boot owl way off. Purity soon another
owl answered il. Next time it wuz a
wolf, n a second wolf howled back. Jake
thought il kinder funny, n lie listened.
Fore long tn howls n tn wolves got
close together, n finally they seemed to
meet n tn clearin', front o. tn house.
Then Jake knowed it wuz Injuns, n
nudgcd tn man next TO him, n 'twasn't
more n a mint fore every man wuz
wide awake n listenin' 18th both ears.
They wuz shut up in there n a lot O. In
juns outside, no tellin' how many, but
all NV 'em ready to shoot. They wuz in
a.trap n no seein' a way out zen il, only
jest to stay quiet n let tn Injuns go
away. tn Injuns didn't seem a bit
afraid n enybody bein' about, n acted
insfis "a fhou Enouuod fhou wnsn,f Thau